Zino and Buckshaw Pitch Shutouts in Softball's Sweep

Farmingdale, N.Y. – Freshman pitcher Hope
Zino (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) and sophomore pitcher Heather
Buckshaw (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) pitched back-to-back shutouts
against Manhattanville today, as the Farmingdale State softball
team improved to 16-2 overall with 8-0 and 3-0 victories. The Rams
run-ruled the Valiants in game one and then held Manhattanville to
just two hits in the second game.

Zino pitched in the first game, striking out 10 batters and
allowing just three hits for her seventh win of the season. She
remains unbeaten this year (7-0), while holding a 0.47 earned run
average in 45 innings pitched with three shutouts. Farmingdale
opened the game with three runs, started by freshman first baseman
Aubrey Walker triple in her first at-bat on her home field. Two
Valiants’ errors would load the bases and send Walker in from
third, and junior designated hitter Shannon Scudder (Seaford,
N.Y./MacArthur) scored sophomore shortstop Nicole Farber (Oakdale,
N.Y./Connetquot) with an RBI walk. The Rams added two more in the
second and one in the third for a 6-0 advantage. Freshman center
fielder Kaitlin Keenan (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) ended the game
in the bottom of the fifth with a 2RBI double to make it 8-0.
Keenan went 3-for-3 (single, walk, triple, double) with 3
RBI’s in the game.

Game two featured Buckshaw on the mound, pitching a two-hitter and
striking out five. Buckshaw is now 7-2 in nine starts this year,
holding a 1.78 ERA in 55 innings pitched with three shutouts.
Freshman left fielder Rebecca Richman (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip)
reached on an error by the third basemen in the first. She stole
second and then came home on an RBI double by Farber. We would see
four scoreless innings and three runners left on base until the
bottom of the sixth. Walker walked and Farber hit a 2RBI homerun
over the left field fence, her seventh of the season, to give the
Rams a 3-0 lead. A scoreless top of the seventh by Manhattanville
gave Farmingdale the win.

The Rams host Merchant Marine on Wednesday, March 25th in a
non-conference doubleheader at 4:00 p.m.